OPINION
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
9A
THURSDAY, MAY 8, 2008
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》 LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Pro-choice leader condemns Yale 'art'
On May 2, Jordan Ryan wrote that anti-choice groups may try to associate pro-choice organizations with an offensive art exhibit in which Aliza Shvarts, a Yale art student, claimed to self-induced miscarriages.
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how to submit
The public should not be confused about where NARAL Pro-Choice America stands on this topic. We called Ms. Shvarts' "project" offensive and insensitive to the women who have suffered the heartbreak of miscarriage. It is wrong to connect her attempt to gain publicity with our
Send a letter to the editor by e-mail to kansanopdesk@mail.com.
work to protect women's freedom and privacy.
-Nancy Keenan, president NARAL Pro-Choice America
Law fails to address all items used illegally
» LETTER TO THE EDITOR
In with the New Year came new ideas, initiatives and laws from the Kansas legislature. One of these laws was Kansas' new law KSA 65-4150 that prohibits stores from selling drug paraphernalia. This law for the most part is totally bogus and should be reviewed.
According to KSA 65-4150, any person selling paraphernalia, which is defined as anything that can be used to administer illegal drugs into one's system, may be prosecuted thoroughly by state law. This law did a good job making it illegal to sell meth and crack paraphernalia, which can only be used exclusively to smoke those substances.
However, it is also illegal to now sell vaporizers, water pipes and even tobacco pipes, which are used to smoke tobacco.
Yes, sometimes people use them for things that are illegal, but they do the same thing with Coke cans, apples, watermelons, oranges, carrots and many other household items.
Why isn't the Kansas government arresting farmers or the producers of Coke and Pepsi?
Kansas legislators need to revise this law because it is hurting local businesses.
— Lars Whalen, Fort Thomas, Ky., freshman
HOW TO SUBMIT
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The submission must include: Author's name and telephone number; class.
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CONTACT US
Darla Slipke, editor
864-4810 or dslipke@kansan.com
Matt Erickson, managing editor 864-4810 or merickson@kansan.com
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THE EDITORIAL BOARD
Members of the Kansan Editorial Board are Alex Dohry, Bokhrin Dyky, Matt Erickson, Kelsey Hayes, Lauren Keith, Darla Slipke, Dianne Smith and Ian Stanford.
FROM THE DRAWING BOARD
Tyler Doehring
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》 EDITORIAL BOARD
Don't make Holcomb another crime scene
This tiny town in western Kansas is known by the crimes that have been committed there. It was the location of the Clutter family murders in 1959 that Truman Capote popularized in his work "In Cold Blood."
Since the book's 1964 publica
Since the book's 1964 tion, those crimes in the town of Holcomb have mostly faded from the public's mind. But a new crime is on the verge of being committed, this time by Sunflower Electric, a Hays-based power company that is
trying to build two 700-megawatt coal-fired power plants there.
Carbon dioxide is one of the main culprits of global warming, and electricity generation from the proposed coal-fired generators in Holcomb would emit 11 million tons of carbon dioxide each year. This much carbon dioxide would negate green initiatives taken by the New England states and make Kansas home to the one of the largest single sources of carbon dioxide west of the Mississippi River.
dioxide emissions and relied on the Supreme Court's 2007 ruling that declared carbon dioxide a pollutant.
Despite its crimes, Sunflower Electric hasn't been stopped dead in its tracks.
Opponents of the plant thought their battle was over when Roderick Bremby, Secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, rejected Sunflower's application for air quality permits. He cited concerns about carbon
But supporters of the plant are ready to fight to the death, and they have a nice helping hand from the leaders of the Kansas
Gov. Kathleen Sebelius vetored both bills, but last week the Senate was able to gather enough votes to override the first veto. Since then, the action has been like watching the most time-consuming game of tennis: The complete override of the first veto failed in the House. The Senate overrode the second veto, which the House is scheduled to vote on Friday. Just this past Tuesday, the Senate passed yet another version of the bill, this time tacking a few more "economic development initiatives" onto it.
House and Senate, who are both from Western Kansas. After Bremby rejected the permits, the debate moved to the Legislature, which passed two different bills, stripping
Although Western Kansas needs an economic boost, a coal-fired power plant is not the way to bring in money. Instead, the Legislature should be sponsoring initiatives to promote energy conservation or for funding for green energy
Bremby of his regulatory authority and allowing the plants to be built,
projects like solar panels or wind turbines. These projects look progressively into the future, instead of forcing Holcomb residents to live in the shadows of an outdated coal plant.
In addition, most of the plant's electricity would be sent out of state, leaving only 15 percent for Kansas, but the state gets to keep 100 percent of the pollution.
Some argue that if the plant isn't built here, the project will be moved to a neighboring state. But in the wake of Bremby's decision, other states and energy companies have been paying close attention to the debate. Bremby said 20 projects to build coal-fired power plants have been canceled, three have been delayed and others have been denied at the state level.
It is horrifying that so many members of the Legislature have supported these bills and are neglecting the long-term needs of the state in terms of environmental protection and economic prosperity, which are not mutually exclusive.
The Kansan editorial board supports Marci Francisco, the state senator from Lawrence, and Barbara Ballard, the area's state representative, who both voted to uphold Sebellius' veto and protect the environment and the health of all Kansans.
Lauren Keith for the editorial board
how to contact your representatives
Determine what Kansas county you are registered to vote in.
Go to kslegislature.org to find your county on a map or drop-down list.
Click on the name to see e-mail addresses and phone numbers.
editorials around the nation
May 1 marked five years since President Bush landed on the deck of the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln, declaring, under the banner "Mission Accomplished": "Major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed." On that day, the toll of American dead in Iraq stood at 140. Today, the count exceeds 4,000. That moment, the president so full of himself, has become representative of a White House arrogant, unknowing and ill-prepared.
Whose mission has been accomplished?
More, the scene has become emblematic of an attitude of loose optimism. Capture Saddam Hussein, and the tide would turn. Or hold elections. Or craft a constitution. Or launch the "surge" which for all the "breathing space" achieved has yet to yield the necessary
ASSOCIATED PRESS
-Akron Beacon Journal May 5
What has the Iraq mission accomplished overall, with Iran emboldened, American influence diminished — and most telling, al-Qaida and the Taliban regrouping in what has become a haven in western Pakistan, along the border with Afghanistan?
political reconciliation among Iraqis.
The strategy still amounts to waiting for Iraqis to do their part. What the Bush team failed to understand is how difficult that would prove in such a fractured country.
Count the days, 1,874 since the president's carrier declaration, and you revisit the concern:
FREE FOR ALL
To contribute to Free For All, visit Kansan.com or call 785-864-0500. Free For All callers have 20 seconds to talk about anything they choose.
How the heck did I manage that?
To those who think it's clever to hold hands on Jayhawk Boulevard: I will break your arms by pulling a red rover on you.
--to the face.
--to the face.
To the guy who I dragged to my sorority dances this month: Thanks for being my arm-bitch
Hope you have an umbrella because I'm about to make
I thought the ad said, "Best Video Game Training Site." But it said "trading," and my hope in humanity was restored.
Pluto is actually an orbiting group of British soldiers from the American Revolution who entered space after the Chuck gave them a roundhouse kick to the face.
My girlfriend gets on my Facebook and removes girls from my friends list. Maybe I should change my password.
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Maybe you should change your girlfriend.
--makeup and tailgate.
It smells like sex outside.
--makeup and tailgate.
Speaking of Facebook statuses, I made up a quote I had on mine and just now was browsing through my friends' statuses, and one of them has it as theirs. Weird?
--makeup and tailgate.
All women should have to ride motorcycles for the first two years after they get their license. Maybe then they'll learn to pay attention to the road and not need to do their
I don't know if you knew this or not, but your phone actually comes with vibrate and silent settings. Use them in the library.
Yesterday a guy justified driving his Hummer by stating, "That's my way of showing the terrorists that they can't control my life." Apparently, he thinks buying lots of their petroleum is an ideal form of vengeance. I hate Kansas.
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the library.
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At the beginning of the year,
I had no luck with the ladies,
and I wished that I would.
Now I have two or three girls
after me, and I can't be with
them all. Damn you, karma.
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Music is a powerful connection. Get in touch, people.
KANSAN.COM
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